SONGS TO THE SUN 73 



APRIL 



SONGS TO THE SUN 



WHEN the April sun is shining through the 

 bare branches of the orchard, casting 

 blue shadows on the grass and persuading the 

 bunches of blossom to open without delay, there 

 is no song that so appropriately accompanies this 

 foretaste of summer as that of the great tit. 

 ' Peter, Peter, Peter,' he sings everywhere, for he 

 is happily a common bird. It is a good swinging 

 note that expresses not merely the happiness of 

 sunshine but the vigour of spring. If you want 

 the mellowness of summer, wait a few days till the 

 cuckoo comes. His is the same see-saw between 

 two notes but altogether in another key and 

 measure. The great tit has been singing two full 

 months when the cuckoo comes. A sparkling 

 north-east wind is quite good enough for him, 

 with plenty of work to do before he can get his 

 tale of caterpillars. 



The blue tit tries to outsing his big brother 

 with a song of ' Silly me me me me,' the coal tit 



